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Elizabethan Era is the way to go! The Founders were really early medieval and so like as has been said it would be impossible. I am very slowly beginning a fic in that era myself and so have done a lot of research on it.

First, have you ever heard an Irish man talk? They talk in circles sort of, embellishing things. Well, that is sort of how they might speak. The more words the better. Especially when wooing someone. You can have a lot of fun with the language too; insults are GREAT!

Thou art naught but a snivelling pile of festering pig dropping, now be gone with ye!

They also said things like, “For Sooth!” Or “By my Trowth!” meaning to swear on ones honour.

Alternatively you could just age your dialog. Go more Victorian era. For example,

“Miss Ravenclaw, what a delight to meet you! Such a handsome young lady, is she not? Ah, my apologies my dear, you two are not acquainted; may I introduce to you Mr Godric Gryffindor; you met his father, Mr Gryffindor, not a moment ago. Such a fine, fine gentleman he is; I suppose you are much proud of him!”

The dialects are not correct, but they do tend to add age to your writing to get the reader more in touch with the setting. (Sorry if it sounds a little awkward, I'm still learning to write in differant dialects myself.)

when you say "previous owner" do you mean the one it was stolen from, or someone who owned it before the person it is stolen from

And when you say "The thief shall die hiding the secret of where it is" do you mean he will die, and his being dead hides the secret, or that in his attempt to hide the secret of where it is the attempt kills him?

Alright, if you actually want Old English, it might go something like this, although I warn you this is very rough and don't look too closely at my verb tenses...

Byre wille begrafe - unbreme begrindar

Asterofe oferthelung dryghtgetreon gespecendlie

or, roughly

Youth will steal - unknown thief!
Die concealing great treasure that should be spoken of

(This thing is refusing to put spaces where I want them between oferthelung and dryghtgetreon and between concealing and great, but they should be there.)

This would be founder's era, and if it is what you want I will haul out the grammar books and spiff it up interms of word endings and tenses. I've already made it sound vaguely Anglo-Saxon by use of alliteration and an imitation of half lines - I paid no particular attention to the stresses.

Now if what you REALLY wanted was Early Modern English, which would be around Shakespeare's time, that is another story...

I am writing a Founder's fiction as well, but I hadn't thought of couching it in anything other than a more formal version of modern English, and leaving out modern slang and concepts (for example, "guilt trip").

I tend to think that attempting Shakespearian English would make it sound affected, and I would beyond all doubt mangle the usage. I was thinking along the lines of the language used by Mary Stewart in "The Crystal Cave", which is set in Arthurian times. The characters in the novel would really be speaking in Latin and other dialects that I am not nearly educated enough to name.

Do you think that that would be sufficiently "non-Modern"?

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It shall be stolen by a young man who the previous owner shall know not. The thief shall die hiding the secret of where it is.

Thanks, Lyra and ProfPosky

ProfPosky - I want Early Modern English - around Shakespeare's time, as you said

Also, to make it clearer, the previous owner doesn't know the thief. So the unknown thief steals the mysterious object which I do not want anyone to know
"The thief shall die hiding the secret..." - that means that some other unknown person shall kill the thief, because the thief is not telling him the secret of where 'it' is.

Phew, there are a lot of unknown people, aren't there? Well, don't worry. I know the whole plot (obviously, since I created it )